How Should I Draft a Strict Warning Letter for an Employee's Serious Misconduct?

Request for Strict Warning Letter

We are working in a brokerage firm. One employee was found to be involved in selling other projects without informing management. This is a very serious problem.

Please provide me with a very strict warning letter as this behavior is tarnishing the image of my company.

Regards

If the misconduct committed by the employee is very serious, then it's better to conduct a domestic enquiry. Let the culpability of the employee be proved, and then dismiss him. What your employee has done is deceitful. How can you just wrap it up with a "warning letter"? Issuing a warning letter is far too lenient a punishment and is as good as condoning the misconduct.

When awarding punishment, you should consider the gravity of the offense. Failing to do so may set a bad precedent in your organization.

Regarding the domestic enquiry, the reasons for conducting it were explained in my previous post. You can click here to read those comments.

Ok...

Regards,
Dinesh V Divekar
Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.

During the inquiry conducted from the management side, the mistake has already been proven and accepted by the employee. We do not want to dismiss that employee; that's why we need to issue a warning letter to him.

If the inquiry was conducted and the culpability of the employee was proven, then what is the point in keeping this employee? Impeccable conduct is a prerequisite of employment. Why is your management developing cold feet in sacking him? Tolerance towards underperformance or non-performance is still understandable, but this is a plain integrity issue.

Just recently, Yahoo's CEO resigned because he had made a false claim on his CV about his degree. During my HR days, I still remember my VP had sacked a young employee because security had caught her carrying four used lead pencils!

Tolerance towards guile is dangerous. It will vitiate your organization's culture and set a bad trend in your organization. Why don't you want to sack this fellow? Is good performance the reason? If yes, then how can you bargain the organization's values with the misconduct of the employee? If you retain this employee, then others may perceive your MD's leadership as weak.

I would recommend not only sacking the employee but also issuing a service certificate with remarks as "terminated due to misconduct." This will send a signal to all employees that you stand for what is right, and they will think 100 times before engaging in any underhand activity.

Your MD or top management needs to revisit the chapter on "Organizational Culture" in OB once again!

Regards,
DVD

I fully agree with Sri Dinesh, who has aptly put things with full legal knowledge. Cheating a company that provides food is a criminal offense, and the offender must be appropriately punished. There should be no more tolerance for such actions. In simple terms, he can be labeled a traitor. Do not show any mercy to him. Show him the exit door.

Regards,
M.J. Subramanyam, Bangalore